gender affects the compliance levels in humans

Introduction

The aim of this task was to find out whether gender affects the compliance levels in humans. Compliance is a form of conformity, when a person acts according to certain accepting standards. I will be observing peoples behaviours when crossing the road and will take note of those who cross with the lights at pedestrian crossings and those who cross independently. To ensure I get a fair set of results I will have to think about confounding variables, which may affect the findings. This is a natural environment experiment. I have no control over people’s actions and since they will be unaware of my observations they will not feel intimidated or pressured into acting differently and doing the right thing.
In the past, 1950’s – 1950’s, many researchers have conducted that there is no difference between males and females complying, although a few psychologists have found that women are more likely to comply. Research by Sistrunk and McDavid (1) indicated that women are more likely to comply if they do not have much knowledge about a specific event or topic, likewise with men. But otherwise both genders conform about equally.

Aims and Hypothesis- Experimental Hypothesis

The aim of this task was to find out whether gender affects the compliance levels in humans. The experiment I performed was directional as there is a difference between the behaviour of males and females when crossing at pedestrian crossings.

Method

To observe males and females actions at pedestrian crossings and taking note of the results in the form of a Tally chart to be able to find out if men or women press the button, wait for the green man and cross the road appropriate, rather than crossing independently.
The participants in this experiment are ordinary people of all ages and both sexes, although there will be confounding variables which I will not include to keep my findings as fair as possible.
The experiment was done at around 3pm on a Sunday. The pedestrian crossing that I used was outside Marks and Spencer’s along Worthing seafront. As the weather conditions were not desirable I observed from inside a car and using my data-collecting sheet I recorded the results.

Results
Descriptive Statistics
Summary table

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By looking at the results on the bar chart it is clear that more woman complied than men during the period of time I carried out my investigation.

Inferential Statistics

Using the ‘Chi Square’ method I will be able to test my data statistically to see if there is a significant difference between genders. The formula of Chi Square will give me a figure, which will tell me if my results are significant. The critical value which will prove the validity of my findings is 2.71, the result must be 2.71 or higher to be certain that the results did not happen purely by chance. The formula of the Chi Square is:
א² = Σ (O – E – 0.5) ²
E

א² = 5.52 (significant result)

p ≤ 0.05; א² obt = 5.52; א² crt = 2.71; df=1

I can therefore accept the experimental hypothesis and can reject the NUL hypothesis as my result is a significant figure.

Discussion

By doing this research study I have found that, when crossing the road at pedestrian crossings women are more likely to wait until the green man appears and cross with the lights, whereas men are less likely to be compliant and tend to cross independently. These results are what I had expected to see.

Nothing went wrong in this experiment. Since it was a natural environment experiment I had no control over anything that happened during the time I carried out the investigation. During the 30mins that it took for me to complete the research the weather was cold and cloudy which meant not many people were around and those who were, were mostly middle age- elderly. This would have had a negative impact in the sense that the majority of the participants were all of a similar age group, an age group where people tend to act more cautiously and sensibly.
In order to improve the experiment I could choose the day and time more wisely, for example, midday on a Saturday. This would mean a wider variety of people of both genders and all ages would be around and therefore would result in fairer findings. The weather is also a factor I could think about, selecting a sunny, warmer day where people of all ages will be out. Also, repeating the test more than once and using a few different locations where there is a pedestrian crossing.

As a result of this experiment, it is clear that on average, females seem to comply more than males. This may suggest that as a gender, females are less secure but more sensible than males also that females are more cautious and careful.

Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to find out whether women are more likely to comply when crossing the road at pedestrian crossings than men. In order to get a set of results I observed people behaviour when crossing the road by sitting near a pedestrian crossing and recording what I noticed by using a tally chart. I found that 16 females complied whereas only 9 men complied by crossing with the green man after pressing the button rather than crossing independently. In total 24 of my participants were male and 22 were female. In conclusion to my research it is clear that woman are more compliant than men.